Nick Saban Reveals His 'Dark Horse' For 2024 College Football Season

The USC Trojans enter the 2024 college football season as the No. 23 ranked team in the AP Top 25.

USC failed to reach expectations last season after starting the year off ranked No. 6, and the loss of Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams could hurt. But former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban seems to think they will prove some people wrong this season.

On the season's first episode of "College GameDay," which is taking place in Dublin, Ireland, Saban made his debut as an analyst and made an early pick as the "dark horse" for the Big Ten in 2024, naming USC.

"I really think USC, who people are kind of disrespecting," Saban said. "Lincoln Riley's always going to have a good offense. I don't care who the quarterback is; he'll make 'em work. And now that they have this new defensive coordinator, D'Anton Lynn, who really turned UCLA around a year ago, if they can play better defense, they're going to challenge some of these teams in the Big Ten."

A dark horse is a team that is not favored to win but ends up doing much better than expected. With the loss of key players to the NFL, the Trojans could fit this criteria with where they sit to begin the season.

USC will have an opportunity to prove themselves early in their first season as a member of the Big Ten, with a week one matchup against the No. 13 LSU Tigers and a week four game against the No. 9 Michigan Wolverines.

Riley is entering his third season as the coach of the Trojans. Last season, they started off with championship aspirations, but that quickly diminished after losing five of their final six games. They finished the season with an 8-5 record and a DIRECTV Holiday Bowl win over Louisville.

Lynn was the defensive coordinator for the UCLA Bruins for just one season before coming to USC. He helped UCLA improve a defense that finished outside the top 100 in total defense in 2022, bumping them to No. 11 in 2023 with only 299 yards allowed per game.

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